Britain funds four Project NYX drone teams

The UK Ministry of Defence has cut Project NYX, its Apache “loyal wingman” drone effort, to four teams and put £10 million behind the next stage of development. The four selected companies are Anduril UK, BAE Systems, Tekever and Thales UK, according to reporting published on May 15 and a government procurement trail. The programme is aimed at building an uncrewed aircraft that can operate alongside the British Army’s Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. The aircraft are intended for missions including reconnaissance, target acquisition, precision strike and electronic warfare in contested airspace. ### Which companies made the cut, and who was dropped? FlightGlobal reported on May 15 that Anduril, BAE Systems, Tekever and Thales UK were selected under the second phase of Project NYX and will share the £10 million funding pot. The same report said Leonardo, Lockheed Martin and Syos were not taken forward in this round. (flightglobal.com) The Ministry of Defence had said on January 24 that seven industry partners were advancing to the next stage of the competition after a pre-qualification phase concluded in late 2025. That government announcement named Anduril Industries (UK), BAE Systems Operations, Leonardo MW, Lockheed Martin UK and Syos Aerospace UK among the shortlisted firms. (flightglobal.com) ### What is Project NYX supposed to build for the Army? A UK procurement notice published on November 4, 2025 described Project NYX as a Capability Concept Demonstrator for a “Land Autonomous Collaborative Platform.” The notice said the Army was seeking an uncrewed air system to pair with the Apache AH-64E as an autonomous collaborative platform. (gov.uk) That same notice said the aircraft is meant to operate in a highly autonomous, “commanded not controlled” manner in contested airspace. The listed mission set included reconnaissance, target acquisition, strike, countermeasure defeat and integration with launched effects, with the stated aim of improving lethality and survivability while reducing logistic and maintenance burden relative to the crewed platform. (find-tender.service.gov.uk) ### How does this fit with the Army’s Apache fleet? The British Army completed its 50-aircraft AH-64E Apache fleet in March 2025, when Defence Equipment & Support said the final helicopter had been accepted from Boeing in Arizona. DE&S said the operational fleet is based at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk and the training fleet at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, Hampshire. (find-tender.service.gov.uk) DE&S says the Apache is assigned to offensive action, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance, command-and-control and escort duties. The service says the AH-64E flies faster, carries more lift and has greater range than the earlier variant, and is designed to identify and engage targets at greater distances. (des.mod.uk) ### What are the companies proposing? FlightGlobal reported that BAE Systems’ offer is built around the Capstone platform developed by UK firm Certo Aerospace. The same report said Thales is working with Schiebel and using the Camcopter S-301 rotary-wing uncrewed aircraft for its bid. (des.mod.uk) The report also said Tekever had not detailed its proposed platform as of May 15, while Anduril had formed a consortium including Archer Aviation and GKN Aerospace. Those team details were attributed to the companies and industry reporting, not to a Ministry of Defence contract award notice naming specific air vehicles. (flightglobal.com) ### What happens next, and when? The Ministry of Defence plans to assess the four designs and take up to two contenders into the next phase, FlightGlobal reported. The same report said the ministry wants to trial selected capability concept demonstrators during a major event in the second quarter of 2027, understood to be the Steadfast Defender exercise scheduled for May. (flightglobal.com) The procurement notice says this stage covers research and development only and does not include purchase at scale of hardware or software. It also says later spiral development work is intended to refine the prototype system, test autonomy and interoperability, and generate evidence for future phases of the programme. (find-tender.service.gov.uk) (flightglobal.com)